Product Details

• Actors: Campbell Scott, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Dukes, Estelle Parsons, Daphne Ashbrook
• Directors: Dan Curtis
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Hallmark
• VHS Release Date: January 12, 1999
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 157492639X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,898 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #4 in	Video > Kids & Family > Television > Hallmark Hall of Fame
  #30 in	Video > Drama > Love & Romance > Love Story

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

No one with romantic tendencies will be able to resist The Love Letter. Campbell Scott plays a Civil War buff who buys a desk from that era. While polishing it, he discovers a secret compartment, in which sits an unmailed letter--a letter written by a young woman named Lizzie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) over a century earlier. Touched by her yearning for passion, he writes her back, egged on by his mystically inclined mother (Estelle Parsons). Magically his letter reaches Lizzie and they begin a correspondence that threatens Scott's impending marriage but promises to bring fulfilment to Lizzie. The Love Letter is absurd, yet somehow that doesn't stop it from being completely engaging and even moving. Scott and Parsons are solid, while Jason Leigh is downright rapturous--the movie may owe its success to her. The plot has surprising twists and the conclusion is sweet and satisfying. An unexpected pleasure. --Bret Fetzer

From the Back Cover

Transcending the dimension of time, a love letter found in a secret compartment of an antique desk magically seals the fate of two young people linked by destiny yet separated by more than one hundred years. When Scotty (Cambell Scott-Dying Young) discovers a poignant letter written by a mysterious woman called Lizzie (Jennifer Jason Leigh-N.Y. Film critics Award for Georgia), he cannot get her out of his mind. Putting thoughts of his upcoming wedding aside, he is compelled to write Lizzie a letter of his own. A romantic correspondence ensues and flourishes into a love so powerful, not even a century and a half of time can keep them apart. Spanning an era from the Civil War to the present day, the perils of Lizzie's war torn present threaten her safe passage into the future. Would their love be strong enough to endure the test of time?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly Enchanting., May 24, 2001

By	dsrussell "greyhater" (Corona, CA. United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Love Letter (DVD)

This wonderful Hallmark Hall of Fame television film was adapted from a short story from the master of time travel novels, Jack Finney ("Time and Again", "Time After Time", "About Time", "From Time to Time", just to name a few). This story by Finney delves once again with time, in that a modern-day young man named Scott (played by Campbell Scott) discovers a letter hidden in a secret compartment of an antique desk that he had just purchased. The letter (as well as the antique desk) belonged to a woman named Elizabeth (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) who (at the time of her writings) is living during the civil war.

Scott becomes so enchanted by the letter that he ends writing to her, and after some obsession, and on a lark, actually decides to mail his response at a post office with historical significance using an authentic-period one-cent stamp. Shortly thereafter, and to his utter astonishment, he discovers a second letter in the hidden compartment. This letter turns out to be her reply to his letter...and thus begins a fascinating relationship of two people falling in love, but separated not by distance, but by 130 some odd years of time.

Although this may seem to be a "You've Got Mail" with a time twist, it is really more similar to "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" and "Somewhere in Time". Believe me, if you liked either one of those films, you'll love "The Love Letter". This fantasy/drama pulls you in and keeps you pleasantly entranced all the way to the end. While this film does suffer a bit from situations handled too simplistically, I'm such a sucker for this type of film that I quickly forgave these missteps.

Both Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh were pretty good in this film, but the standout performance (and the one most believable) was Daphne Ashbrook who played Scott's fiancée.

While this small film may pale in comparison to the typical big budget Hollywood films, it is, nonetheless, a film I think you will be delighted to have in your collection. My main concern, however, is the quality of the dvd. I've had difficulty with dvd's by Artisan Entertainment before, and so I did with this one (blurry on certain scenes and pretty jumpy). If you've had good luck with them (could be my player), by all means go get it (or maybe it might be wise to get the VHS instead). Between 1 and 10, "The Love Letter" (which feels like a breath of fresh air) deserves a solid 8.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Movie, March 9, 2002

By	KittyKins "KittyKins" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Love Letter (DVD)

This is a great romantic story, thoroughly enjoyable, and is told without swearing or vulgarity. It is truly a family movie and you don't have to worry that it will be offensive to anyone. Although the story line is a bit far out, with a supernatural quality, it is presented so naturally that you actually find yourself believing that it really happened. Some may be uncomfortable with the fact that the story is similar to re-incarnation, but personally I tried not to take that part of it too seriously. This movie is an improvement from the movie "Somewhere in Time" in which the character goes into the past in his mind through hypnosis. There is a "realness" about the way this movie is presented, and I also like that the characters ultimately get together. A great bit of acting on the part of Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh to pull this one off! It has a good message about waiting for someone that makes you "light up like a Christmas tree", someone you can love completely, not just settling for the first person who comes along. I got this movie a few weeks ago and have already watched it 4 times. I certainly would strongly recommend it!!

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 10 star movie!, June 21, 2000

By	Barbara Farr Kelley (San Antonio, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

What a great, great movie! It aired on Hallmark Hall of Fame's Sunday Night at the Movies back in 1998 or 1999, and I loved it!

It is the story of a man in present-day Boston who buys an antique desk. When he searches through this desk, he finds a secret compartment with love letters written by a woman named Elizabeth, who lived in the 1860s Civil War era.

He would answer these letters and mail them at Boston's oldest post office, which just happened to be the only one open during the Civil War. The girl in the past would keep these letters and write responses to them, then put them in her writing desk, in that secret compartment.

It was just the most romantic story I've ever seen, and I've just added it to my wish list with Amazon.

If you want to see a really great movie, buy this one. Make sure you have a couple of BIG boxes of Puffs Tissues beside you while you watch.